If there was one thing made clear by the final few months of the 2026 Super League season it was this: whether this weekend or next, whether it’s Wakefield, Warrington, or Leeds, the effort and level required to beat the Wigan Warriors is going to need to be herculean. With the Challenge Cup and League Leader’s Shield already under their belt, they’re just 160 minutes away from completing a treble, the second of head coach Matt Peet’s tenure at the club. And crucially, you’d be hard pressed to find many people betting against them.

Wigan’s level of rugby in recent months would probably have you think that it had been this way all season, but there was actually a period of time when it all got a bit weird for them this year. With Bevan French out for a lengthy spell, Jai Field fighting appendicitis, and Harry Smith banned for a few games, they went on a run of losing four straight Super League games. These included the bizarre loss to the head coachless Huddersfield Giants at home and the Good Friday Derby at St Helens, as the Warriors dropped to sixth in the table.

They did of course manage to turn it around. In the Challenge Cup, a 32-0 victory against St Helens gave them revenge for their Easter Weekend loss, as well as prompting Matt Peet to make the ‘identity’ comment heard around the world when discussing Saints’ reaction to their Derby win. Wigan ended the season with sixteen straight wins, and the only loss to stop that reaching twenty games was a 62-4 loss to Hull KR a week before the Challenge Cup final where Matt Peet had essentially sent the academy to the slaughter.

Despite this result, it has been Wigan’s seemingly bulletproof academy that has helped them ride out their injury issues and set them apart from other sides towards the top of the table. Where teams like Leeds and Warrington have seen an over-reliance on youth players expose some flaws in their setups, Wigan’s young players haven’t had too many issues being inserted into the senior team. If the Warriors do end up winning at Old Trafford, it’ll likely be with Field, French, and Smith on the pitch, but they wouldn’t have got there without the roles played by players like Jack Farrimond, Noah Hodkinson, and Taylor Kerr. 

There’s even a possibility that we aren’t truly appreciating just how good this Wigan side is. We’re fascinated by wrapping their players up in comparisons and debates. Is Bevan French the best overseas player in Super League history? Should Harry Smith play seven for England? Is Matt Peet the greatest coach in Wigan’s history? Regardless of the answer to these questions, to only view them through these measures does them a disservice, and ignores the here and now. 

Bevan French is one of a few players in the league that just seemingly has the ball on a string. Despite missing 11 games with injury, he and Harry Smith have combined for 45 try assists this year, the joint-most of any halves pairing in the competition. Watch him for long enough and you’ll see he’s one of the only players that has the ability to just pick the ball up and decide ‘we’re going to score now.’ 

It’s an often-referenced joke, even now by Harry Smith, that anyone in Wigan’s backline, if not their whole team, who isn’t named Bevan French or Jai Field is considered underrated. It’s not completely wrong. Adam Keighran has had a career-best season and might be about to win Man of Steel from centre, of all positions. Brad O’Neill may still not possess a great kicking game like a lot of other hookers, but when it comes to defensive work, he’s probably the best number 9 in the competition. 

So it does make sense that Wigan are regarded as heavy favourites for the business end of the Super League season, but of course nothing is guaranteed. Standing in the way of getting to Old Trafford is a Wakefield side that, if Jazz Tevaga’s midweek comments about both sides’ packs are to go by, really fancy themselves. Matt Peet and his team have been here before, though, and know how to climb the mountain, and will therefore be aware of what it will take to cement themselves as one of the best sides of recent years.